Congestive heart disease is a progressive and debilitating illness. The disease is characterized by a progressive enlargement of heart. As the heart enlarges, the heart is performing an increasing amount of work in order to pump blood for each heart beat. In time, the heart becomes so enlarged that the heart cannot adequately supply blood. An afflicted patient is fatigued, unable to perform even simple exerting tasks and experiences pain and discomfort. Further, as the heart enlarges, the internal heart valves cannot adequately close. This impairs the function of the valves and further reduces the heart's ability to supply blood.
The assignee of this disclosure has developed a device that can be placed on an enlarged heart and fit snugly. One implementation of the assignee's device is characterized as a knit jacket device that is fit around a heart and then secured thereto through a variety of means. The jacket helps to constrain cardiac expansion beyond a predetermined limit. Examples of useable jackets are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,702,343; 6,123,662; 6,241,654; 6,085,754; 6,230,714; 6,169,922; 6,155,972; 6,193,648; 6,293,906; 6,482,146; 6,425,856; 6,572,533; 6,564,094; and 6,416,459. Each of the foregoing patents is incorporated herein by reference.
To place a cardiac constraint jacket around a heart, internal access to the heart is necessary. It is desirable to avoid exposing the patient to trauma. In general, less invasive techniques are preferred to more invasive techniques. Improvements in accessing the heart and placing cardiac constraint devices are desirable.